Word: djiboutis
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...from the southern end of the Suez Canal. Moderate Arab states bordering the Red Sea-Egypt, Sudan and Saudi Arabia-fear that the Soviet Union, already well established on the eastern side of the strait in the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, may have designs on Djibouti in a move to control both shore lines. There is speculation in Djibouti's seedy bars that Moscow has not tried to establish diplomatic ties with independent Djibouti because the Kremlin may have already marked the territory for eventual disappearance-perhaps in a partition by the new republic...
Ethnic Interest. Somalia's interest in Djibouti is primarily ethnic, for the majority Issa tribe in the territory is Somali-speaking. Ethiopia's stake is economic: 60% of its foreign trade moves via Djibouti's deepwater port; a rickety, 60-year-old railroad connects it with Addis Ababa. Both countries deny any annexation designs, but neither trusts the other's disclaimers. Nor do Djibouti's new rulers. Says Ahmed Dini, 45, president of the newly elected National Assembly: "The Somalis and Ethiopians are at swords' points now, but what is to prevent them some...
Paris currently pours about $140 million a year into Djibouti, but most of this aid is in the form of vastly inflated salaries or perks for French soldiers and civil servants. Fully 80% of that money is ultimately re-exported to European bank accounts. The territory's operating budget is a mere $25 million a year, and the French have never seen fit to provide a development budget. But they pay their own people extraordinarily well for serving two-year terms in the harsh climate, where daytime temperatures often top 115°. A junior sergeant serving in Djibouti...
Weary Sigh. The nature of the French postindependence presence in Djibouti awaits negotiation between Paris and the infant republic's new President, Hassan Gouled, 61, a veteran politician who agitated for Djibouti's independence for nearly 30 years. Now that it is here, he does not seem very enthusiastic about it. "We shall survive somehow," he says with a weary sigh. "The Saudis have promised to help, and France will not abandon us entirely. We have few people and almost no resources, but we will get by as long as our neighbors leave us alone...
...independence, Djibouti showed little evidence of joy-perhaps because there is not much to celebrate in a city that has 80,000 job seekers for only 10,000 jobs. French troops turned over a few barracks to the Djibouti army, but only after removing air conditioners, overhead fans and even fuses in an unnecessary show of Gallic arrogance. Some of the decrepit, stone, Arab-style buildings downtown got a new coat of whitewash, and a few strings of colored lights went up. But five days before the festivities no flags of the new republic were in evidence. They were being...